


Dog Days Are Over

by JosieMarieVivianWilkins



Series: The Secret Love of Pets [2]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cat, Cute, Dog - Freeform, Domestic, Fluff, Follow-on, I mean maybe I might be deviating a little - lot -idk, M/M, Mandy 2.0 is back y'all, Oneshot, Pets, Season 11, maybe? - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 09:40:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23849092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JosieMarieVivianWilkins/pseuds/JosieMarieVivianWilkins
Summary: Ian and Mickey finally move in to a place with a yard and that means getting a pet dog.
Relationships: Ian Gallagher & Mickey Milkovich, Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich
Series: The Secret Love of Pets [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1718302
Comments: 10
Kudos: 49





	Dog Days Are Over

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Beki1507](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beki1507/gifts).



> So, my boys are getting a dog! Follow-on from Hate to Love Her (or the story of who tf Mandy 2.0 is).
> 
> Gifting this to Beki1507 who said it would be cool to see the impact of bringing a dog in to the mix. 
> 
> As a writer, hits, comments, etc. are crazy motivating, and the exclusion of non-logged-in user hit counts is noticeable. I can guarantee I'm not the only writer on here noticing the drop and feeling the little slump that it gives you. So I would 100% encourage any of the non-users reading to request an account invitation and encourage any other non-users to do the same. And to obviously log in if you do have an account. And regardless, anyone reading is appreciated and I hope that you are all keeping safe :)
> 
> Anyways, enjoy and let me know what you thought or send me a prompt or smth on Tumblr - thebestpartofthecarrotcostume.

The day they finally managed to put the deposit down on their own shitty little South Side house felt like coming out all over again. It was their own space that they could do what they wanted when they wanted, not having to speak to their landlord at every turn – or pay extra money when Ian brought Mandy 2.0 home without clearing it! By no means was the house extravagant or lavish; it a simple two-bed with kitchen space enough for a dining table, spacious lounge, bathroom with a shower over the tub, and a modest backyard.

Getting moved in had been easy with the help of the Gallaghers (and Sandy) and Kev and Vee's ice cream/titty/medical van for their furniture. The initial transference of belongings had taken just the morning, and the afternoon spent digging out the essentials before relaxing.

_“Yo, Ian, you seen Mandy? She ain’t touched her dinner,” Mickey called through from the kitchen as he observed her untouched kibble._

_“Not tonight...” His husband responded slowly as he walked in from the lounge, his brows furrowed in thought. “I mean, this place does have a cat flap, do you th-”_

_Shaking his head, Mickey interjected, “Nah. I tried to take her in to the yard the second day and she basically clawed me to death to get out of my arms and back inside. Don’t think we gotta' worry ‘bout her running away!” He laughed as he remembered the resulting deep scratches through his tank top at their cat's fear of the outside._

_“I’ll go check the bedrooms for her and bring her in. She may be a little sick if she’s not eating.”_

_“Don’t talk that way about Mandy, she’s fine!” There was a small tone of worry to his voice._

_As he traipsed through to the bedrooms, quickly poking his head in the mostly empty bathroom on his way past and seeing nothing, he called out her name and made kissing noises. There was no response from their room, but he could hear muffled meow from other the hall. When he pushed the door to the spare room, he felt a resistance and had to push with her shoulder and a little extra force to open it. The blockage had been a number of their boxes of stuff to unpack that were piled against the door. The spare room had been their 'designated shit room' and had stacks of boxes and bags to sorted and packed in to their home – and clearly Mandy 2.0’s new playground!_

_The patchy black cat meowed once more when Ian was inside her playground-turned-prison before launching herself at his leg, clawing her way up his sweatpants desperately. He detached her around his thigh, pulling her in to his chest, and fussed her head as he told her “You’re a silly kitty! No more playing in here, you could have been squished!” Shoving a couple of boxes and DVD cases with his foot, the young man cleared enough space to easily open the door, making a point to close it behind him as he left._

_“You found her!” Mickey’s eyes lit up as he watched Ian place the noisy cat down at her food bowl, the small creature eagerly digging in. Turning from the stove, forgetting the soup he was cooking, he instantly sat down beside the cat, stroking the length of her back and then sliding off her tail. Occasionally, Mandy 2.0 would let out a small purr between munching away. If Ian had tried to disturb her meal, he knew full well she would have tried to evade his touch and offered him a flat stare._

_Over dinner, Ian explained how he had found Mandy 2.0 and was given the simple answer of “We’re clearing that shit tomorrow. My cat could have been turned in to a fucking pancake!”_

Once they were settled in fully, minor repairs and decorating completed within the first month between work, they took their mutual weekend off to do ‘something fun' in Ian’s words. After waking his husband early, earning a few choice curse words and a middle finger, Ian made breakfast before hastily shoving Mickey in to the shower, saying they didn’t have long before they needed to go. In that time, Ian was able to quickly round up their cat before popping her in to her carry cage (not easy when she associated that cage with trips to the vet for vaccinations) and strapping her cage in to the back seat of the car.

“Why is Mandy coming with us?” Mickey queried, raising a brow in question as he begrudgingly slotted himself in to the passenger seat after a brief spat about wanting to drive.

“The surprise is for both of you,” Ian clarified with a smirk, knowing how much the older man hated surprises.

Groaning lowly, Mickey side-eyed his husband before flicking through radio stations for someone loud to annoy Ian, turning the volume up high when he a ginger brow quirked in a question of ‘really? Are we gonna’ start shooting spitballs next?’. And then they were driving out to the North Side, Mandy 2.0 occasionally clawing at her cage or meowing loudly for no apparent reason.

“Okay, how far away is this surprise? My cat is pissed.” The dark-haired man grunted, reaching an arm back to poke his fingers through her cage, feeling her rubbing her nose and cheek against them eagerly.

“ _Our_ cat will be perfectly fine for the two minutes ‘til we get there,” Ian responded, reaching out and giving the older man’s thigh a squeeze, leaving his hand to rest there, rubbing his thumb over the denim softly. The remainder of the drive was spent with Mickey comforting Mandy 2.0 and Ian comforting Mickey, a calm air filling the car after Ian had gradually been decreasing the volume of the radio throughout the drive.

When Ian put the car in to park and turned off the engine, he was biting his lip as he watched the understanding of their outing become clear to his husband, stepping out of the car and getting Mandy 2.0’s cage out. Once they were in the shelter, Ian mentioned about calling ahead of time to a woman at a desk, and she nodded, asking them to take a seat for a moment whilst another member of staff made their way down. By the time a slim blonde greeted them, Mickey was almost buzzing with excitement.

“Hey, I’m Jasmine. So, if we can pop your cute little kitty in the side room whilst we go and meet the dogs and then if there are any you get on with that are cat-friendly we can bring it to meet her. That okay?” The blonde smiled at the nods she received from both men, accepting Mandy 2.0’s cage from Ian and stepping through a door for a moment before returning sans cat. “Okay, follow me, guys.”

When she asked about ideas for breed or size, the ginger man looked to Mickey, prompting him to answer with a small shrug. “Umm, before the cat, I would’ve said something big and tough, but… now I just really want one she’ll get one with.”

“Okay, well, I’ll point out the ones that we know have come from cat homes if you want then, maybe help narrow it down a little?” Jasmine had stopped before the enclosures, her suggestion being accompanied by a warm smile.

“Yeah, that sounds great, thanks.” Ian knocked his shoulder against a bouncing Mickey’s.

As they walked past the plastic windows that housed the dogs, the blonde woman pointed out four dogs that were completely cat-friendly. The first was a long-haired Jack Russell of the typical brown and white markings that lay sleepily on some beds. Next, a mongrel that was the size of a springer spaniel with short, brown fur and bright blue eyes bounded to the window excitedly to meet the potential owners. A dalmatian crossed with a whippet was the third, also pawing at the plastic hopefully. The final dog was a small terrier cross with sharp, pointed ears in a caramel colour.

They entered the enclosure of each dog, finding that the first of the four was disinterested in them but the others seemed more than willing to interact. The blue-eyed mongrel was a jumper and quite heavy-set for its size; “I don’t want a repeat of the near-miss with the boxes but a heavy dog instead,” Mickey had laughed as he petted the dog’s head whilst it stood with its paws on his stomach. The other two dogs were both friendly and playful, so they decided to introduce Mandy 2.0 to both dogs and use her reaction to decide.

Mickey and Ian went in to the room where Mandy 2.0 was, finding her stroking herself against the leg of the coffee table. They were instantly met by her curling about their ankles as they tried to fuss her. They sat down on the chairs against the wall, Mickey holding Mandy 2.0 on his lap, and then Jasmine came in with the terrier cross: Mitsie. It did not go over well with Mandy 2.0. The minute the small dog was brought in to the room, the small dog was yapping with excitement, bouncing up at his legs to get to Mandy 2.0. She didn’t appreciate the excitable dog, opting to dig her claws in to his thighs as she hissed at Mistie.

“Apparently not,” Ian said in a mock-British accent with a chuckle, treating adopting a dog like Harry Potter testing wands.

The dalmatian cross whippet, called Mutt, came in to the room more cautiously when he noticed the cat, opting to crouch on the floor a metre away from the couple and their cat, his mouth wide and tongue hanging out excitedly. For a moment, they simply sat as the animals appeared to have a face-off, simply maintaining eye contact and watching the other for movement. Ian laughed and moved to crouch down by the dog to scratch the top of his head, earning a headbutt from him when he stopped the petting.

“Bossy bottom, are you?” He joked, raising his eyes to his husband suggestively as he resumed fussing Mutt.

In response, Mickey lifted Mandy 2.0 slightly and waved her in Ian’s direction: “Defend my honour, Mandy: attack!” The cat let out a short, high-pitched meow before struggling and jumping from his hands. “No, Mandy, your second favourite parent, not the dog,” he sighed, thumbing his nose as his cat moved to sniff the dog who was stealing her ‘second favourite parent’s’ attention.

As she sniffed at the spotted dog’s paw, her nose softly touching it once and twice as she almost resembled a chicken, pecking her head back and forth with her sniffing, Mutt turned his focus from the man petting him to lick Mandy 2.0’s head by way of greeting. The cat pulled her head back briefly before moving in closer to sniff him again.

Mickey and Ian sat back for a moment as the two animals sniffed and licked at each other, attempting to become more well-acquainted. And when they saw Mandy 2.0 squat her front end low and wiggle her backside in preparation to pounce, they both smiled, knowing that she was a fan of Mutt. This was confirmed when she jumped at his rapidly wagging tail, throwing her whole body on to it and holding it between her paws to playfully gnaw it, interchanging between licks and bites. Mutt’s tail wagged as Mandy 2.0 clung to his tail, swiping her back and forth across the linoleum of the floor.

“Would I be right in assuming Mutt is a keeper?” Jasmine prompted, her brows high and bright smile wide again. Upon receiving affirmative answers, she left to get adoption papers.

Mickey, Ian, and Mandy 2.0 left with Mutt.

Once at the house with his own bed, toys, and bowls, Mutt settled in well, only occasionally eating Mandy 2.0’s leftover food which she would usually return to later on in the evening (the cat soon wised up, clearing the bowl on serving). Evenings would be spent with Mickey’s lap occupied by a cat, his husband leaning in to him or wrapping an arm around him, as Mutt would squeeze himself between Ian and the arm of the couch.

Gradually, Mandy 2.0 became braver towards the outside world, trailing Mutt out there in case she was missing out, and soon realising that the backyard meant more places to use as a vantage point to pounce on her best friend. She never strayed from the yard and had no desire to go out there if the speedy dog wasn’t already there, something which Mickey (who was the worrisome parent with her going out there) was deeply relieved by.

It seemed as though having pets had kept children off of Ian’s mind, which wasn’t necessarily something Mickey wanted them to do, he just wasn’t sure where he stood on the topic as soon-to-be thirty-year-old. Being a ‘cat mom’ as Ian called him didn’t make him uncomfortable, but it gradually began to nudge the thought of children more in to the older man’s head. One night, as Mickey lay on Ian’s chest, his pillow occupied by their cat and the foot of bed occupied by their stretched out dog, Mickey mumbled, “So, umm, what do you think about me being an actual mom rather than a cat mom?”

It was a moment of silence before Ian answered, one wherein Mickey felt like he could vomit from the anxiety. He was met with a laugh. “Mick, I love you, but I tried chicks and I’m really not down for that if you’re trying to tell me you’re trans.”

It wasn’t the answer he was expecting, and maybe the whole ‘cat mom’ thing threw Ian. “No, I meant-”

“I know what you meant,” Ian said as he was stretching and pressing his lips to his husband’s, his hands cupping his face with clammy hands. “I think… we should try to make a baby right now!” He declared as he slipped away from Mickey to lock their pets out of the bedroom (they learned this was best after Mutt had tried to defend a keening Mickey one night, jumping on Ian’ and throwing his back out for a couple of days).

“Let’s make a baby,” Mickey grinned as he kneeled up on the bed to meet his husband in a warm, passionate kiss, holding him close as his heart hammered in his chest with excitement and anticipation.

**Author's Note:**

> Clarification: not mpreg (that ain't my jam!) just Ian initiating sex playfully/jokily because he's really happy and excited. Sequel should be up tonight to clear that up.


End file.
